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Red Steagall has had three overlapping careers in the space of little more than 30 years and can take credit for discovering one great country talent, Reba McEntire. As a songwriter he's been responsible for over 200 compositions, several of which have become hits in the hands of other performers. As a Nashville-based artist, Steagall had his share of chart action in the 1970s and a few major hits. And as a singer of Western songs as well as an author of poetry about the West, he is one of modern music's cowboy balladeers. Steagall was born Russell Steagall in Gainesville, TX, on December 22, 1937. He became a bull rider at rodeos while he was still a teenager, but at the age of 15 Steagall was stricken with polio and took up the guitar and the mandolin as therapy to recover the strength and dexterity of his arms and hands. He attended West Texas State University, and while he was there he formed his first group, a country band. Steagall went to the West Coast, where he had some succ...